Athena

Roman religion

• Athena is a counterpart of Minerva.

  Roman Minerva was interpreted as Athena’s counterpart. The identification is interpretatio, not a single goddess with two passports.

  from Ovid · Metamorphoses, 8 CE; Walter Burkert · Greek Religion, 1977 German; 1985 English

  counterpart of · sourced · culturally specific

Hellenic religion

• Athena is associated with Owl.

  The same pairing read from the goddess. Burkert treats the owl as one of Athena’s animals in cult and image, not as a death-omen of later folklore.

  from Homer · Iliad, c. 8th–7th century BCE (this form); Walter Burkert · Greek Religion, 1977 German; 1985 English

  associated with · sourced · documented

• Athena is sacred to Athens.

  The city bears her name and her temple on the Acropolis. Civic cult, not a generic mind-goddess of later essays.

  from Anonymous (Homeric hymn) · Homeric Hymn to Athena, c. 7th–5th century BCE; Pausanias · Description of Greece, c. 150–180 CE; Walter Burkert · Greek Religion, 1977 German; 1985 English

  sacred to · sourced · documented

• Athena is associated with Olive.

  Athenian story makes the olive her gift in the contest for the city. A local aetiology of oil and prize, not every Mediterranean grove.

  from Herodotus · Histories, c. 440s BCE; Walter Burkert · Greek Religion, 1977 German; 1985 English

  associated with · partially sourced · documented

• Athena is associated with Knowledge.

  Athena’s counsel is craft and civic intelligence in Greek sources. Later “goddess of wisdom” posters flatten that craft into a motto.

  from Homer · Iliad, c. 8th–7th century BCE (this form); Anonymous (Homeric hymn) · Homeric Hymn to Athena, c. 7th–5th century BCE

  associated with · sourced · documented

• Athena is connected to Delphi.

  Athena is not Delphi’s owner; Apollo is. The two cults share a Greek world without sharing a priesthood.

  from Anonymous (Homeric hymn) · Homeric Hymn to Apollo, c. 7th–6th century BCE; Walter Burkert · Greek Religion, 1977 German; 1985 English

  connected to · interpretive · culturally specific

• Athena belongs to Hellenic religion.

  Athena is a Greek goddess. Burkert’s synthesis is secondary; the hymns and epic are primary.

  from Anonymous (Homeric hymn) · Homeric Hymn to Athena, c. 7th–5th century BCE; Walter Burkert · Greek Religion, 1977 German; 1985 English

  belongs to · sourced · documented

• Minerva is a counterpart of Athena.

  The pairing is the same interpretatio read from the Greek side. Civic cults remain local.

  from Walter Burkert · Greek Religion, 1977 German; 1985 English

  counterpart of · sourced · culturally specific

• Owl is sacred to Athena.

  Athena is glaukōpis in Homer, and later Athenian art gives her the owl. The epithet is a glance; the bird on coins is a civic sign, not a pan-European wisdom mascot.

  from Homer · Iliad, c. 8th–7th century BCE (this form); Anonymous (Homeric hymn) · Homeric Hymn to Athena, c. 7th–5th century BCE; Walter Burkert · Greek Religion, 1977 German; 1985 English

  sacred to · sourced · documented

• Aegis is sacred to Athena.

  The Iliad has Athena shake the aegis in battle. A named goat-skin or shield-device of that goddess, not every later shield, and not Minerva as a flatten.

  from Homer · Iliad, c. 8th–7th century BCE (this form)

  sacred to · sourced · documented

• Gorgoneion is sacred to Athena.

  The Iliad sets the Gorgon face on Athena’s battle-gear. A named face-sign of that goddess, not the aegis as a whole, and not unpublished Medusa as a second being.

  from Homer · Iliad, c. 8th–7th century BCE (this form)

  sacred to · sourced · documented